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JUBILEES
1 THE Platinum Jubilee Central Weekend, celebrating the Queen’s 70 years on the throne, is from June 2 to 5. Where does the concept of jubilees come from?
A. Shakespeare’s A Midsummer Night’s Dream. B. The Old Testament. C. Dickens’s A Christmas Carol. D. Queen Victoria’s diary.
2 WHAT was hurled from the top of a building to celebrate the Golden Jubilee of King George III?
A. Cake. B. Coins. C. Peacocks. D. Gammon.
3 TRUE OR FALSE: the Queen’s silver Jubilee beacon lighting in 1977 was so
chaotic that it almost reduced her to tears.
4 WHICH of these did the Queen receive for her Golden Jubilee? A. A golden retriever. B. A bar of gold. C. A gold disc. D. An Oscar.
5 WHICH of these is being renamed for the Platinum Jubilee? A. An Olympic park. B. A London bridge. C. A planet. D. HP Sauce.
6
TRUE OR FALSE: Queen victoria celebrated her diamond Jubilee without getting out of her carriage.
ANSWERS
1) B. The Old Testament
THE Book of Leviticus describes a jubilee as marking a celebration of 50 years.
2) A. Cake
KING George III is credited as the first British monarch to mark a Golden Jubilee, in 1809. In Abingdon in oxfordshire, it was celebrated with cakes thrown from the top of the Market House. Food and money were provided for the poor, and prisoners, so that everyone could take part in the fun.
3) False
AT the 1977 beacon lighting at Windsor, a boy burst into tears after a torch he was carrying kept going out. Then the Queen lit the fuse on a flare to light the bonfire in Windsor Great Park, which also fizzled out.
Organiser Major Sir Michael Parker told the BBc: ‘at that stage I said: “Ma’am, I have to say that anything that could possibly go wrong is going wrong.” and she turned to me, smiled and said: “Oh good — what fun.” ’
4) C. A gold disc
In 2002, the Queen became the first member of the Royal Family to be awarded a gold disc from the recording industry, after 100,000 copies of the CD of the Party at The Palace Golden Jubilee celebration were sold within the first week of release.
5) D. HP Sauce
MANUFACTURER Kraft Heinz has rebranded the product HM Sauce for the duration of the Jubilee and Heinz Salad cream has become Salad Queen. The Queen Elizabeth Olympic Park in East London was named to mark the Diamond Jubilee in 2012. The Hungerford footbridges were named the Golden Jubilee Bridges to celebrate her 50 years on the throne in 2002.
6) TRUE
QUEEN Victoria’s 1897 Diamond Jubilee thanksgiving ceremony was held outside St Paul’s cathedral to avoid the 78-year-old, who suffered from arthritis, having to climb the steps. She found the scene ‘most impressive’. But her cousin augusta, Grand Duchess of MecklenburgStrelitz, was alarmed that she should ‘thank God in the street!!!’.